GAZA: The war in Gaza entered its 12th month on Saturday with at least 16 Palestinians killed in Gaza, a plea for justice from the family of a U.S. citizen killed in the West Bank, and no sign of progress on a cease-fire deal.
Israel and Hamas, along with the Islamic Jihad and Fatah, battled Israel across the Gaza Strip — Israel with airstrikes and ground forces, Hamas and its allies with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.
On Saturday, the family of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a woman killed Friday by Israeli soldiers during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the West Bank, demanded an independent investigation. The White House also called for an investigation.
The 26-year-old Eygi, described as an activist, was shot while posing no threat to Israeli forces and during a calm period following earlier clashes, according to witnesses.
“Her presence in our lives was taken needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the Israeli military,” Eygi’s family said in a statement. “A U.S. citizen, Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter.”
The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday its troops “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them” during the protest.
“The IDF is looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area. The details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review,” the military said in a statement.
Eygi died as the Israeli military was withdrawing from Jenin and its refugee camps after a 10-day operation in the West Bank. Fighting in Jenin accounted for the deaths of 21 of 39 Palestinians reportedly killed during the operation.
(VOA)
Comment